


Trouble Magnet's Guide to Cryptozoology

by nu-exo (Nekohime)



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Magic, Cryptids, Hendery just wants to smooch, M/M, witches make bad choices because they fear NOTHING
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23092027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekohime/pseuds/nu-exo
Summary: “You ever consider Bigfoot doesn’t want to be found?” Hendery asked to no one in particular, eyes shifting nervously as they trekked through the nighttime darkness of Elliot State Forest.  “Like, what if it’s hiding from us on purpose?”
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery
Comments: 35
Kudos: 161
Collections: 99' ft 00' fic fest





	Trouble Magnet's Guide to Cryptozoology

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, so this definitely got out of hand towards the end of working on it lol. I even had to cut out a whole part towards the end that didn't really fit tonally which would've added another thousand words or so easy. That being said, it was a joy to work on! Writing from Hendery's pov was a lot of fun, and filling out the premise was super enjoyable. To the mods, thank you for being so understanding throughout the entire fest and especially towards the end :') I know I told you guys this already, but I super appreciate it.
> 
> The original prompt is an absolute gem (I agree, Hendery and Renjun plus monsters *is* a god tier concept) and hopefully I was able to do it justice.
> 
> As a heads up, this wasn't beta'd, I'm kind of just yeeting it out there, so please forgive me if there are any odd grammar mistakes. Those'll be taken care of as soon as possible.
> 
> So, without further ado, prompt #FT026!

“You ever consider Bigfoot doesn’t want to be found?” Hendery asked to no one in particular, eyes shifting nervously as they trekked through the nighttime darkness of Elliot State Forest. “Like, what if it’s hiding from us on purpose?”

“It’d have to exist to be able to hide from anyone on purpose,” Renjun shouted from further up, a flash of reflective safety orange and yellow ducking around trees and roots, “Which we’re here to prove!”

Hendery winced, wishing Renjun would talk a little quieter, or maybe suggest that they give up and just go back to their nice, warm hotel room. But, this was Renjun. He’d grown up not understanding the concept of giving up or giving in unless if it was in the context of someone conceding to  _ him _ .

Dejun came up next to him, patting him on the shoulder and smiling sweetly when Hendery nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Accept it. We’re spending the night out here.”

Hendery whimpered, knowing Dejun was right.

“Think we’ll get to see a mountain lion or something?” Chenle asked, turning so he was facing them, walking backwards like the fate tempting demon he was. He was smiling far too much at the prospect of seeing an animal that could and probably would attack them if they stumbled across it. “Or a bear? That’d be pretty cool.”

“No it would not,” Hendery hissed, unable to keep from glancing over his shoulder every now and then, the feeling of being watched making the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end.

“It’d be something, at least,” Chenle pouted. “Otherwise, what, we walked through a dark forest at night to look for something that doesn’t exist? That’s just  _ boring _ .”

_ Witches _ , Hendery thought, only partially bitter, _ have the most warped sense of self-preservation _ .

“Kindly remember that unlike you guys,  _ I _ can’t make shit catch on fire or fly through the air.”

Dejun snorted while Chenle outright cackled, catching the attention of Lucas and Yangyang who’d kept up better with Renjun’s pace, excited where the tiny witch was determined.

“Hurry up or we’ll end up leaving you guys behind!” Lucas shouted, waving at them, reflective gear making him look extra tall and looming and  _ terrifying _ .

“See? Lucas isn’t a wimp, and he’s not a witch either,” Dejun pointed out, eyes wide in mock-innocence.

“Lucas,” Hendery started, begrudgingly speeding up and almost immediately tripping on a large, exposed root, “is a  _ werewolf _ and  _ does not count _ .”

“Rude!” Lucas boomed again. Hendery really wished he’d stop doing that.

Hendery, as incorrigible as the rest of them at the end of the day (Kun’s beleaguered choice of words, not his), couldn’t help yelling back a petulant, “You don’t!”

“Both of you, shut up!” Renjun finally snapped, the wind picking up briefly in response to his annoyance. “We certainly won’t find anything with you two yelling like idiots!”

Hendery stuck his bottom lip out in a dejected pout. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled. Chenle whooped. Hendery, resigned to his fate, jogged to catch up to the front group, wrapping a shaking hand around Renjun’s arm.

If he was about to be eaten, at least he’d take Renjun down with him.

  
  


— 

  
  


Hendery could trace all the chaos and stress and bad decisions in his life back to one point. One singular crossing of paths.

“Hi.” Hendery stared, startled, at the small hand that had been shoved imperiously in his face. “I’m Renjun Huang, your new neighbor. We’re gonna be good friends.”

Six years old and utterly mystified by this tiny boy, who’d marched right up to Hendery while he’d been playing in his front yard to declare something with the air of announcing an inevitable fate, Hendery hadn’t been able to blurt out anything else besides a confused, “We are?”

Renjun, five and already so intune with his own abilities, confident in a way Hendery envied, had smiled. “Yup.”

“Oh. Okay.”

And just like that, Hendery’s life changed forever.

  
  
  


— 

“We’ll make camp here,” Renjun said, hands on his hips as he surveyed the small clearing they’d stumbled on.

“Where d’you want the cameras?” Yangyang asked, waving his expensive camera bag in the air, ignoring the yelp Dejun let out when he almost got whacked in the face.

Renjun pursed his lips, thinking. He glanced up, a glint in his eye that meant someone was about to go climbing. “Think we can get them up in the trees?”

Everyone turned to look at Lucas — who’d already plopped down to rifle through their massive bag of food. It took him a minute to realize everyone was staring at him. When he did, he raised his head like a dog being called to attention.

_ Fitting _ , Hendery snickered.

“What’s up?”

“You,” Yangyang grinned, carelessly tossing the camera at him. Lucas caught it easily with one hand. “Renjun wants them in the trees.”

“Considering all of you, bar Hendery-” “Hey!” “- can just,” he wiggled his fingers, “magic the cameras up there, this feels an awful lot like I’m being singled out.”

“You saying you’re not gonna do it?” Dejun asked with a grunt, having started trying to wrestle one of the three tents they’d brought into shape.

“Nah. It’s no biggie,” Lucas shrugged, hopping up onto his feet. “I’ve seen what happens when you try to finesse things with magic,” he snorted, “Wouldn’t want Jaemin’s cameras to come back fried because your magic fucked with it. He’d probably break up with me on the spot for that.”

“He should’ve just come up here himself instead of staying back in the hotel like a wimp,” Chenle muttered. He’d gone over to help Dejun only to end up struggling along with him. Hendery was going to let them fuss with it like the pampered witches they were a little bit more before going over to help. “I still can’t believe him and Jisung didn’t come along because it was ‘too dangerous’.”

“Alas,” Yangyang said, pitching his tone into something posh, sighing in faux disappointment, “they are only human.”

“So is Hendery,” Lucas pointed out, passing by with a skip in his step, one of their three cameras and the necessary wiring strapped across his body.

He patted Hendery on the head as he went, snickering when Hendery tried to swat him away, moving fast but not fast enough to catch the werewolf anywhere. Hendery, lips pressed into an unamused line, flipped Lucas the bird.

“Hendery’s my good luck charm,” Renjun said, speaking up for the first time in a while, having shoved his body from the waist up into his travel pack, rifling around for something in its charmed depths. He turned to Hendery with a sweet smile and darling curve to his eyes, running a hand through the sweaty strands of Hendery’s hair. Hendery, stupidly smitten, leaned in to the touch. “Besides, anything wants to get to him they’ll have to go through me.” Hendery felt his ears flush pink, holding Renjun’s gaze, ignoring Chenle and Yangyang fake retching in the background. “And then we’ll have them on camera.”

Hendery blinked, brows slowly drawing down into a frown.  _ Wait. _ “What?”

“Supernatural things like you,” Renjun continued, laughing, talking as if he wasn’t one of those supernatural creatures himself. “Gotta pull out the big guns if I want to get Bigfoot on film.”

Hendery whimpered, dropping his head into his hands. Of course. Why was he even surprised.

_ Stupid witches. _

Something tickled his leg, dread running icy down his spine immediately, and, without thinking, Hendery flailed with a loud piercing scream. He looked down, having scrambled back, heart pounding, and made eye-contact with eight beady little eyes.

“Bad Gloria!” Hendery huffed at the tarantula, hand on his chest. Then, to her owner who’d been  _ explicitly _ told to leave her behind, “Yangyang, if you’re gonna smuggle your spider along at least keep track of her!”

Yangyang yelped, running over to scoop his pet (familiar? Hendery wasn’t actually too clear on that) up, shooting Renjun a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” he said, affecting an air of nonchalance even though Hendery had seen him take startled steps back when he’d spotted the massive spider.

Yangyang turned to look up at where Lucas was clinging to the tree he’d been wiring up, looking like a terrified cat with the way his claws had slipped out to dig into the bark. “Sorry Xuxi.”

“I thought we agreed, no fucking spiders!”

“Gloria is a Pinktoe tarantula and probably smarter than you,” Yangyang sniffed. “And I still don’t get what the big deal is. Not even Hendery is scared of her.”

Hendery was scared of her. He’d just grown to not mind her once he realized the tarantula really did have a spark of human intelligence glittering in her many eyes. That, and the fact that she usually kept her distance, eating everything else that  _ did _ scare Hendery significantly more. He wasn’t about to say that, though, because then the gathered witches would think he was okay with spiders in general and he most definitely was  _ not _ .

“Just put her away so Lucas can finish setting everything up without having to Tarzan it from tree to tree,” Dejun sighed, smacking Chenle — who’s been hiding his laughter very poorly — upside the head.

Yangyang grumbled under his breath but did as he was asked, carrying the tarantula over to his pile of stuff and the cage he’d likely brought along.

Hendery watched everything with the mild amusement of someone too tired, and too stressed, to do anything more than snort at Yangyang behaving like a toddler who’d been told ‘no’. It was only nine and they hadn’t even fully set up camp, but Hendery was spiritually and emotionally  _ done _ .

“Hey.” Renjun tapped Hendery’s thigh with the tip of his shoe. “Want to help me set up the tent and then film a part of my segment?”

Hendery looked up at him, pretended to think about it (as if he’d say no), before shrugging. “Sure, why not.”

  
  
  


The rest of the early night passes without any true roadbumps. Lucas almost falls trying to prove that he can Tarzan his way between trees, catching himself on a lower branch before any damage could be done. Dejun gives up his struggle with the tent he and Chenle were supposed to be setting up and used magic to do the work for him — losing a bet he had made with Jaemin. Hendery made sure to take a picture of that, for future teasing purposes and for photographic evidence that he now owed Jaemin twenty bucks.

They eat, film Renjun explaining why they’re out here in the middle of the woods in southern Oregon for his growing list of youtube subscribers, and then they break for the night. Chenle puts out the fire with a stern look of concentration while everyone else starts crawling into their designated tents.

“Think we should leave food out as a lure?” Renjun asked, sitting cross-legged on his sleeping bag, a small frown creasing his forehead.

“I thought we  _ were _ the lure,” Hendery said, shooting off a  _ ‘We’re alive!’ _ message to Kun and one that said  _ ‘not dead yet bitches _ ’ to the group back at the hotel. “I thought the whole point of us coming out here was so Bigfoot would either try to eat us or be curious enough to pop by and say hello.”

“I’m not sure that’s enough though.”

Hendery gave Renjun a look of exasperated disbelief that went largely unnoticed. He sighed, rolling onto his back and stretching before tucking himself into his sleeping bag.

“Just kick Chenle out of his tent, then,” Hendery suggested around a yawn. “He’s the most excited to be out in the woods anyway. Said he wanted to see a mountain lion.”

Renjun snorted, a smirk pulling at his lips. “Not a half bad idea. Still haven’t gotten him back for that hair dye prank.”

Hendery let out a bark of laughter. “You looked good with that grayish color though. Very trendy.”

“My hair was brittle for months until whatever he put in my shampoo finally wore off,” Renjun complained, shuffling around so he could join Hendery in being horizontal and snuggle into his own sleeping bag.

“Wonder how Chenle’s hair has survived being dyed for so long,” Hendery mused, decidedly not thinking about the way Renjun’s foot had poked out to press against his own. “You know some people in his classes think he’s a natural blonde now?”

“His hair’s gonna fall out by the time he’s twenty-five, mark my words,” Renjun muttered darkly, unconsciously running a hand through his own now dark and healthy locks.

_ Ah, terrifying _ , Hendery thought fondly, shifting onto his side under the pretense of getting more comfortable. 

Renjun looked pretty, backlit by the small travel lamp they’d packed. Hendery wanted to reach a finger out and trace the line of his nose, the soft skin of his lips. He had better self-preservation instincts than that, though, and very much liked his fingers attached to his body so he didn’t give in to the dangerous urge.

“Hey.”

Hendery blinked, refocusing, realizing with a start that Renjun was staring at him, small smile playing at his lips. “Hm?”

“Wanna film a short bit before we go to bed? Maybe talk a little about how you’re feeling right now?”

“Scared of the dark and horrified that you once again convinced me to do something possibly life-threatening,” Hendery said without missing a beat.

“So that’s a yes then?” Renjun asked, smile growing, eyes curving up and fucking  _ sparkling _ in the low light.

Hendery sighed. “Yeah, sure, why not. We both know I’m the real reason your viewers watch your videos anyway.”

Renjun laughed, stretching an arm over his head to find his personal hand-held. He turned it on, checking all the settings before facing Hendery with it.

“They do enjoy your fear,” Renjun teased. “Right guys?”

Hendery rolled onto his stomach and propped himself up like a seal on his forearms, giving his most winsome smile to the camera. “Good, because it’s all I’ve got.”

  
  
  


At some point in the early morning, when it was still dark and the sun had yet to peek over the horizon, Hendery woke up with the unfortunate urge to pee.

“I hate you so much,” he muttered at his bladder as he unzipped the tent and crawled out. “Why do you have to be so small? Why couldn’t you just last until the morning when there’s daylight and other signs of human life?”

He considered their campsite and then squinted up at where he knew the cameras were.

_ Damn it. _ He looked back down at the almost impenetrable darkness surrounding him, moonlight only doing so much to provide a way to see.  _ Fuck. _

It took a second of frustration for Hendery to decide that yes, not being caught on film pissing in the bushes was indeed worth venturing outside the safety of their campsite before he gave in and headed further into the forest. Grumbling quietly to himself — part genuine irritation, part need for a safety blanket of sorts — he walked just outside the ring of surveillance they’d set up, not wanting to go too far in case something  _ did _ happen.

“Never again,” he swore to himself, sighing in relief as he picked a spot and started to pee. “Never again am I agreeing to something like this.”

It was a bold lie. Of course he’d say yes to something like this again. If Renjun asked, Hendery would probably say, “Sure, I’ll jump off that cliff”, trusting that Renjun had a way to catch him.

That being said, when a branch snapped too close for comfort, causing Hendery to whip his head around, eyes wide and scared, he could convince himself that, yeah, this? Never again.

“Wh-Who’s there?” he asked, like an idiot, as if he wanted an actual response. As if something answering wouldn’t give him a heart attack and kill him on the spot.

Another twig snap, louder — like a big branch breaking soundly in half — and significantly closer.

Hendery tucked himself back into his underwear and quickly tugged his pants up. If he was about to die, it would  _ not _ be dick out, pants down.

“I’m just gonna head on back now,” he said to...whatever was out there. Ideally he was talking to nothing but air. Unfortunately, he didn’t trust his luck that much. He tried laughing lightly, the sound coming out strained and panicked. “Don’t mind me.”

A loud rustling of leaves too high up for comfort, a low, rumbling growl.

Hendery squeaked. “Bye!”

And then he ran.

He practically threw himself back into the tent, zipping it closed with shaking hands. Then, he waited, listening for the sounds of anything following. His breathing, harsh in the quiet, slowly returned to normal the longer he went with hearing nothing beyond the occasional insect or bird. 

He sighed, letting his head hang forward. Good, he wouldn’t have to wake everyone up so Renjun could get his glory shot and Lucas could fight off whatever that thing had been, because at the very least Hendery knew something had been creeping up on him. He’d spent enough time with Renjun and Co. to have learned to trust his instincts.

He made a move to lay back down, exhaustion washing over him now that he was back in the safety of Renjun’s presence, the witch’s magic a soft blanket over the space, just barely remembering to fumble around for the jumbo hand sanitizer Renjun had packed. Because,  _ “Camping in the woods doesn’t mean we have to live like animals” _ .

With the smell of rubbing alcohol hovering in the air, Hendery face-planted into his pillow.

“Kunhang?”

Hendery turned his head tiredly to look at Renjun, fringe hanging in his eyes and hair mussing against his pillow.

Renjun’s eyes were barely open, probably half asleep still. He sniffled, scrunching his nose and shifting closer. He raised a hand only to let it flop close to Hendery’s arm like a dead weight. “You okay?”

Hendery smiled, a small, tender thing reserved for the young man lying next to him. “Yeah,” he whispered, moving his hand so their fingers were touching, “Everything’s fine.”

Renjun hummed, already drifting back off to sleep. “Good.”

If Hendery said he thought he ran into something in the dark, Renjun would spring awake and drag him back out there, magic sparking at his fingertips. Hendery wasn’t even sure himself anymore if what he’d heard was an actual creature moving around, the drag of sleep and the safety of the tent already making the experience seem like a result of his fear fueled imagination.

_ If it’d really been an animal, or, god forbid, Bigfoot, it would’ve followed me anyway, right?  _ Hendery nodded to himself, closing his eyes, curling his fingers around Renjun’s.  _ Right. And if anything, we have cameras. _

  
  
  


They all woke up in the morning to the dulcet sounds of Chenle cackling.

“Why?” Renjun demanded, hair sticking up in the most amazing directions as he fought with the tent zipper, shoving it open with more aggression than was called for. “ _ Why _ are you  _ like this? _ ”

“Which one of you did this?” Chenle asked, breathless, still laughing.

“Did what?” Lucas mumbled around a yawn, poking his head out as well. 

His hair was practically plastered to his forehead, a lovely little bird’s nest that was much more contained than Renjun’s. Hendery, smiling to himself, snapped a picture. Jaemin would appreciate it.

“This!” Chenle crowed, pointing at something just out of sight from where Hendery and Renjun were sticking their heads out of their tent.

“Oh for the love of-” Renjun hauled himself to his feet with a huff, Hendery leaning back so he could crawl out into the open air.

Hendery, recognizing when it was officially time to get up and be Awake TM , followed him out, Lucas doing the same across their little campsite. The werewolf ambled over, yawning wide, scratching lazily at his stomach as he settled in next to Hendery, using his shoulders as an armrest.

“Wha’s that?” he asked, frowning at what Chenle was laughing at.

“Does,” Hendery squinted, “Does that say…’sorry’?”

Renjun blinked and Hendery could literally see the gears in his head turning, trying to wake up and make sense of what they were looking at at the same time. “Why is it written in twigs and rocks?”

“Wow, look at everyone up so early.”

The gathered group turned to look over at Yangyang coming from the forest. He looked significantly more awake than the rest of them, hair not a nest and a little bounce to his step. It was supremely suspicious, but it was also Yangyang so no one batted an eye.

“Did you do this?” Renjun asked, pointing at the — for lack of better words — apology, cutting to the chase.

“Do what?” Yangyang asked, walking over to peek around Lucas’ shoulder. He took one look at the arrangement of sticks and rocks and shook his head. “Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p’, “That wasn’t me. I was looking for fungi to use in a potion I’m planning.”

“I thought Kun said no more trying to make Death Draughts,” Hendery drawled, Lucas snorting at his side.

“Who said it was a Death Draught?” Yangyang asked, batting his lashes innocently.

“Wait, so, if it wasn’t any of us, who did this then?” Chenle asked, ignoring their side conversation as he continued to stare down at the apology in blatant fascination.

“Well,” Lucas moved to crouch next to it, absently rubbing at his eyes. He sniffed the air, small frown forming. “I can tell you it wasn’t human.”

“ _ What? _ ” Hendery squeaked at the same time that Renjun and Chenle both made noises of excitement bordering on feral.

“Yeah,” Lucas continued, as if he wasn’t saying something horrible, “Not an animal either.” He tilted his head, nose scrunching in thought. “Kinda smells like something in-between?”

“Oh my god,” Renjun breathed, eyes twinkling, all traces of sleep replaced by an excited sort of hunger.

“ _ Oh my god, _ ” Hendery paled, voice hitching. His small venture out of the tent last night played in his head like an unwanted film reel. “There  _ was _ something in the bushes.”

All eyes were instantly on him, a full spectrum of interest and eagerness that had Hendery freezing like a deer in headlights.

“Hendery,” Renjun started, sounding out his name slowly, eyes sharpening in a way that had a misplaced shiver of attraction racing down his spine, “What, exactly, do you mean by that?”

“I had to pee,” Hendery does not squeak, inching back as Renjun steps closer, “So I woke up in the middle of the night and kind of wandered out? And there may or may not have been something out there with me.”

“Did you see it? Was it Bigfoot?” Chenle asked, bouncing in place, held back from pouncing on Hendery and shaking him by the knowledge that Hendery could and would book it.

Hendery stared at him like he’d asked a particularly stupid question. “You really think I stuck around to find out?”

“Hendery,” Renjun was close now, eyes wide and expression serious. He grabbed onto Hendery’s shoulders, tiny fingers digging in hard. “Was it Bigfoot?”

“I-” Hendery frowned, “Did you not just hear me? I dipped the second something growled. I’m but a mere mortal. What if it’d been a bear?”

“Definitely not a bear,” Lucas chimed in unhelpfully.

Hendery shot him a look. Renjun’s hands squeezed tighter.

“You should’ve woken me up.”

“And said what? I think something snuck up on me while peeing on a tree in the dark?” Hendery scoffed.

“Yes,” Renjun said, a hundred percent serious.

Hendery groaned. “Isn’t this enough?” he asked, gesturing at the apology.

Renjun didn’t even blink. “No.”

“Pics or it didn’t happen!” Chenle crowed, breaking off into another cackle.

_ A horrible child _ , Hendery mentally grumbled, glaring at Chenle, bottom lip pushed out in a frustrated pout.  _ A horrible, horrible child. _

“But we do have pics,” Yangyang said, speaking over Chenle’s laughter. “Or cameras, at the very least.”

Chenle stopped laughing. Everyone turned to Yangyang, eyes wide, then looked at each other, blinking. 

“Huh,” Lucas tilted his head up to look into the trees, “I forgot about those.”

_ We’re idiots. _ Renjun made a strangled noise as he launched himself at the nearest tree with a camera set up in its boughs, Lucas and Chenle hot on his heels.  _ All of us. Idiots. _

Luckily for Jaemin’s cameras, Lucas scaled the tree faster than Renjun or Chenle could cast a spell. (Electronics and magic didn’t necessarily mix unless you  _ really  _ knew what you were doing.) He jumped back down, landing with a solid sounding  _ thump, _ waving the camera in the air with a wide grin.

“Got it!”

Renjun all but tackled him, arm outstretched with single-minded determination. If Lucas wasn’t a werewolf — or stupidly tall — he would’ve been taken down by this point. He was stupidly tall, though, so all Renjun could do was hop up and down with a concentrated frown, swiping at the camera while Lucas opened its display screen with a leisurely smile.

Magic, after all, didn’t do much to werewolves. 

_ Good for Lucas, _ Hendery thought mildly, observing everything with an air of acceptance. He was used to their groups special brand of chaos, even if it was way too early in the morning for this shit.

“Lucas,” Renjun all but hissed, frustration clear in the narrowed line of his eyes, “Give me the motherfucking camera.”

“You’re going to have to put so much money in Doyoung’s swear jar when we get back,” Chenle snickered, staring up at one of the other cameras, gears turning in his head.

“Doyoung’s a fucking hypocrite and would constantly be putting money in if he was following his own rules,” Renjun snapped, trying to kick at Lucas’ shin when it was clear jumping was doing him no good.

“Ohhh,” Chenle sing-songed. “I’m gonna tell him you said that.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Hendery said, watching Chenle’s fingers start to twitch at his side.

“What?” he asked, gaze still focused up, “Tell on your boyfriend?”

Hendery’s eye twitched, neck and ears burning. “One,” he managed out, very pointedly not looking in Renjun’s direction, “not my boyfriend.”  _ Yet. _ “Two,  _ I meant _ , if you cast to get that camera down and break it, Jaemin’s gonna maul you.” Chenle blinked, processing, then visibly paled. Hendery bit back a snort. “So, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Chenle pouted but took a healthy step back, crossing his arms over his chest like the petulant child he was.

Hendery was about to laugh at the sheer amount of hand-caught-in-cookie-jar energy Chenle was radiating when a shout of triumph drew his attention back to where Renjun, Lucas, and now Yangyang were. The two smalls had managed to out-fox Lucas, and — camera in hand — had crowded together, heads close as they looked at the video playback.

Lucas, grumbling under his breath and hair even more askew from whatever the tussle had escalated to, looked over both of them with ease to watch.

“Well?” Hendery asked, when time passed with nothing but anticipation humming in the air. “Anything good?”

“Besides you running back to camp like your ass was on fire?” Yangyang cackled.

Hendery made a garbled sound in offense. “Screw you.”

“Wait,” Renjun said at the same time that Lucas jabbed a hand forward, nearly elbowing Yangyang in the face saying, “What was that?”

Hendery, morbidly curious, moved closer, peeking over Renjun’s shoulder.

Onscreen, about ten minutes after Hendery had scampered back to the tent, something was moving just outside the camera’s range. Sticks and stones started to appear, clearly being meticulously arranged by  _ something _ .

“Come on,” Renjun muttered under his breath, staring at the small screen with the intensity of someone who thought they could will the camera’s scope to somehow widen. “ _ Come on _ .”

They watched, Chenle having joined them, huddled together with bated breath, waiting to see if they were actually about to get video proof of Bigfoot’s existence. And then nothing. No more movement. The apology was done and left, only the edge of it visible to the camera. No edge of an arm or hint of a massive furry figure. Nothing.

“No!” Renjun cried. “ _ Motherfucker! _ ”

“That sucks,” Yangyang quipped.

“How is the fact that something with an unrecognizable scent and intelligence left a fucking stick apology for me not enough for you?”

Renjun looked up the sparse centimeters that separated him and Hendery in in height to glare. 

_ Well, if that wasn’t an answer in and of itself. _

“What good is it if there. Are. No.  _ Pictures? _ ”

Hendery sucked in a breath, opening his mouth to say what he wasn’t sure, when Dejun finally poked his head out of his tent — then his body, nearly tripping over the partially opened flap in the process — muttering biting curses under his breath.

“Why,” Dejun started, irritated and cranky at evidently being woken up, sleep mask still partially on his face as he stormed over, “the ever living  _ fuck _ , are you being so  _ fucking _ loud first thing in the  _ fucking _ morning?”

“Bigfoot left an apology for startling Hendery while he was peeing,” Lucas said, unfazed by Hendery’s sound of betrayal.

“We don’t know that,” Renjun said, eyes narrowed down at the invisible line marking out what they would and wouldn’t have caught on video — the upper half, the  _ important half _ , of the apology sitting just barely on the wrong side of it, “because we didn’t catch it on the fucking cameras.”

“How do you know that without checking?” Dejun asked, significantly calmer now that he’d been given a “reasonable” excuse for all the noise.

“Lucas already brought one of the cameras down to see,” Yangyang told him, practically bouncing on his feet in excitement.

Unlike Renjun, this was enough proof for him to satisfy his curiosity on the Bigfoot front.

“Why does all the cool stuff happen to you?” Chenle whined, frowning in Hendery’s direction, stomping his feet like a child.

Hendery dropped his head into his hands, groaning, tired from all the early morning excitement and the state of constant vigilance he’d been in since they stepped foot in this godforsaken forest. “Believe me when I say I wish it didn’t.”

  
  
  


Three hours and many expletives — courtesy of a very bitter Renjun — later, everyone was more or less put together and awake.

They’d eaten, an affair that nearly ended in tragedy when Dejun and Lucas almost put in some of the plants Yangyang had collected while they’d been hiking up, and then they’d broken down their camp. Kun — resident witch in charge while they were away from their families for school — had given them one night to crawl around the woods looking for Renjun’s cryptid. 

_ “Not that one night isn’t enough for you gremlins to burn the whole place to the ground,” _ Kun had grumbled,  _ “but the less time you little monsters are away from supervision the better.” _

So they were heading back, sort-of-evidence in hand to be reviewed and edited for Renjun’s subscribers to judge for themselves.

“Next time, I’m not letting you leave my sight,” Renjun huffed, eyes focused on the ground so he didn’t get caught by the uneven forest floor.

Hendery felt himself flush and ducked his head. It wouldn’t do much if Renjun looked up. His ears had to be bright red right now. Knowing that no one could see his expression, though, made him feel better. Gave him a modicum of comfort and imagined privacy that he didn’t usually have amongst his non-human friends.

“What’re you gonna do?” he asked, tone light, “Follow me around like a shadow?”

There was a small pause, but when Renjun spoke again it was with a playful, teasing lilt to his voice. “Maybe. Bet I wouldn’t miss out on catching the next cryptid in action that way.”

Hendery could picture the way Renjun was smiling so clearly he couldn’t help the shy smile curling at his own lips.  _ God, he was so fucked. _

“Maybe.”

  
  
  


If Renjun stepped a bit closer, knuckles brushing against the back of Hendery’s hand, well, he wasn’t about to say anything about it.

  
  


— 

  
  


“I don’t get it,” Hendery had said when they were in high school, long after he’d learned Renjun’s secret and realized that mayhaps he’d fallen just a teeny-tiny bit in love with his best friend.

“Don’t get what?” Renjun had asked, focused on calculus homework that should’ve been done the night before. ( _ “Spellwork before homework.” “I don’t think-” “Spellwork before homework!” _ )

“Why you’re so interested in aliens, and whether a giant sea creature lives in Lake Erie or not.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Hendery stared at him. Renjun was a witch from an ancient family line that predated  _ multiple _ dynasties and empires. He could literally walk on water if he wanted. He was friends with a  _ werewolf _ for fucks sake.

“I don’t know,” hendery wheezed around a barely held back laugh, “Maybe I just assumed banshees and wraiths and all the other supernatural things that  _ do _ exist were enough for you.”

At that Renjun stopped scribbling away math equations, looking up at Hendery with a raised eyebrow and a rakish smile that promised nothing good but had Hendery’s poor weak heart beating away anyway.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

  
  


— 

  
  


“Wow,” Mark said, taking in the crowd around them. “Just...wow.”

“Who knew there were so many people who all shared the same delusion,” Donghyuck observed under his breath, just for their little group to hear. He turned to Renjun then, shit-eating grin on his face. “Aren’t you happy, Injunnie? You’re not alone.”

“I’ll murder you in your sleep, Hyuck, don’t think I won’t,” Renjun shot back without missing a beat, ripping off a piece of pastry he’d bought from a street vendor and holding it up to Hendery’s mouth. “It’s good, want?”

Hendery preened and accepted the bite of pastry, lips brushing Renjun’s fingers lightly, causing his cheeks to warm.

“There’s a giant metal statue of Mothman right in their city square,” Mark continued, still staring at everything in blatant fascination. He reached for the camera bag slung across his chest, pulling out the old point-and-shoot he’d gotten as a gift from Johnny back when they’d been in high school and therefore treated like a baby. “Gotta get a picture of that.”

“Just that?” Dejun huffed, pulling up the rear, expression judging as he watched someone dressed as the Mothman twirl a carboard sign. 

“As if Johnny would want to see any of this,” Donghyuck snorted. “He’s a proper adult now with a proper job.”

“He’s twenty-five and still has the bear and lion plushies Mark won him at that stupid school fair our senior year,” Renjun drawled, feeding Hendery another bite of Mothman shaped pastry. “I think he’ll be happy to see anything Mark is willing to show him.”

Mark smiled down at his camera, ears turning pink, while his cousin pouted, eyes narrowed at Renjun in challenge.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend to feed? Just giving him sweets isn’t exactly healthy.”

Hendery promptly choked, nearly doubling over. Renjun was quick to rub a small hand over his back, which only made things worse, Hendery turning even redder in the face as he gasped for air.

“Stop that,” Mark chided, shoving his cousin’s shoulder. “You’ll kill Hendery.”

Hendery made a noise of betrayal covered up by a pettering off round of coughs.

“Not my fault they’re dancing around each other like- ow!” Donghyuck whirled on a sweetly smiling Dejun. “I’m not above hitting someone smaller than me, Xiao.”

“And I’m not above hitting back.” Dejun tilted his head. When he spoke his tone was saccharine, sticky on the ears with false niceness. “Want to find out who hits harder?”

“First of all,” Renjun cut in, before things could escalate to an actual brawl — not something their friend group on a whole was above, unfortunately — shooting a glare in both boys’ direction, “have a little self-respect, you’re witches for gods’ sake. Why the fuck would you fight with your fists?”

“Swear jar,” Mark sighed, back to clicking away on his camera.

Hendery snorted.

“ _ Second of all _ ,” Renjun carried on, “if you nitwits start fighting like fools and draw attention or worse, get us kicked out from the festival, I will  _ murder you, _ so fucking  _ quit _ .  _ It _ .”

Hendery had to bite his lip hard to keep the dopey smile that wanted to take hold off his face. Renjun was the epitome of small-but-scary, and he probably shouldn’t have found it as endearing as he did, but  _ holy shit _ he was smitten.

_ Man I want to kiss him. _

_ Ew. _

Hendery whipped his head around, zeroing in immediately on Donghyuck. He was doing a poor job of hiding his smirk.

_ The person snooping in my head doesn’t get to judge. _

_ Rude _ , Donghyuck mentally sniffed, all sass despite the expression of absolute boredom he’d schooled his face into.

_ No, _ Hendery thought back, taking advantage of the crowd to walk closer to Renjun, looping an arm through his,  _ This is rude. Leave my thoughts alone and mind your own business, Hyuck. _

_ Ohh, _ Donghyuck mocked, smile twitching at the corner of his lips. Hendery shook his head. Incorrigible.  _ I’m sooo scared. What’re ya’ gonna do? Force me out? Sic your tiny boyfriend on me? _

Hendery felt heat creeping up his neck.  _ Not my boyfriend. _

_ Tell him that, _ Donghyuck thought at him, tone entirely amused, which — coming from him — was extremely insulting.  _ He glares down anyone who even looks at you twice. _

He didn’t. Hendery would notice if Renjun was scaring people off from him. Hendery stared at the witch enough, he would’ve caught him in the act by now.

_ Lies. Besides, should you really be talking? Last I checked you were still hopelessly in love with Lucas and his smaller, prettier, more intimidating half. _

Donghyuck choked, the sound of him coughing and sputtering causing a small commotion.

“Shit! You okay?” Mark yelped.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck croaked out. “I’m good. All good.”

Hendery could feel the glare directed at the back of his head. He smiled, big and wide.

Renjun hip checked him lightly. “What’s up,” he whispered, tipping his head close.

Hendery glanced at him, heart rabbiting at the proximity. Renjun’s lips — pinker because of the cold — were so close.

He gave him the best smile he could manage, praying to every god Renjun had ever spoken of that it didn’t come across nervous, that it didn’t give him away. “Nothing. Just Donghyuck being stupid.”

Renjun narrowed his eyes. “What did he- was he in your head again? I swear, he learned mental breaching and all of a sudden he’s a fucking telepa-”

“Renjun, chill,” Hendery laughed, squeezing the witch’s arm with his own. “It’s fine. No harm done. Besides,” Hendery paused to lean a little closer, grin turning mischievous, “I gave as good as I got.”

Renjun raised an eyebrow, snorting softly. “I’m sure you did.” Closing the bit of distance between them, he pressed his cheek against Hendery’s shoulder. “Doesn’t mean I have to be okay with it. He can do actual damage if he’s not careful.”

“Donghyuck’s a pain in the ass,” Hendery chuckled, “but at the very least he has control in spades. It’s a big part of his current boy troubles.” Renjun barked out a sharp laugh, quickly turning his face into Hendery’s shoulder entirely to muffle the sound. Something warm fluttered in Hendery’s chest. “You laugh, but you know I’m right.”

Renjun leaned more of his weight against him, letting Hendery lead them as they weaved through a particularly packed portion of the festival crowd, heading towards another food stand with a caricature of the Mothman printed on its signboard. 

“Trust me, I’m aware,” he huffed. “Why do you think I never let them come out on these things together? I don’t need their sexual tension acting as a distraction. If we  _ do _ come across something dangerous they’ll get themselves munched.”

“So strategic,” Hendery teased, trying and failing to keep his expression serious. “Good to know our great leader is on top of these things.”

Renjun seemed to come up short at that. Hendery felt his stare, burning against the side of his face. When he looked down at him, meeting Renjun’s gaze, Hendery felt his breath get caught in his throat. Renjun’s eyes were wide, searching, shining with something Hendery couldn’t quite place, lips slightly parted.

“I try,” he finally said, breath coming out in a faint puff of white, “I’m a little too selfish for it to always work, though. Don’t like following my own rules.”

Hendery opened his mouth, closed it.  _ What does that mean? _

But — as things seemed to always go for him when it came to Renjun and  _ emotions _ — before he could muster up the courage to ask, life and the chaos that came with it intervened. Which essentially translated to: Donghyuck and Dejun had started a petty slap fight and managed to tumble into Hendery and Renjun, which nearly sent them all careening into a passing group of children (who, for the record, were behaving significantly better than the two supposed “adults” responsible).

The moment between Renjun and Hendery was sufficiently shattered, and they all had to immediately scatter, Renjun spitting threats of bodily harm as they went.

All in all a fantastic start to their trip.

  
  
  


“So,” Mark started, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk’s, “What’s the game plan for tonight?”

“Gah!” Donghyuck shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the slice of pizza in his cousin’s hands. “I was gonna eat that!”

Mark stared at him. Then, keeping eye-contact, proceeded to stuff the rest of the slice in his mouth.

Donghyuck made a high, strangled sound of offense. “You-!”

“We can order another,” Renjun said, cutting him off, sliding a plate with a second slice towards him before he could get a word in. “Don’t need you yelling and getting us kicked out of here too.”

Donghyuck scoffed, offended. “Excuse you, that was Dejun’s fault, not mine.”

Dejun, who’d been happily enjoying the milkshake he’d gotten, paused mid-slurp. He narrowed his eyes at Donghyuck, hackles rising. Hendery rolled his eyes. At this rate they’d get kicked out of town before they could even start their night skulking.

“No no no,” Mark chided, flicking his rolled up straw wrapper at Donghyuck’s head. “We’re not starting this again.”

Dejun grinned, teeth flashing. “Yeah, Hyuck, behave.”

Donghyuck whirled on him. Mark groaned. This time, it was Hendery intervening, swatting Dejun’s shoulder. 

“Ow,” he complained. 

“You’re older,” Hendery huffed, “Act your age.”

Dejun’s jaw dropped, scoffing, a hand coming up to his chest like the dramatic gremlin he could be. “He’s one year younger!”

“And significantly more of a blood pressure hazard,” Renjun said, opening up the notebook he kept to log all their misadventures. “Let him have this one, since he’s gonna be our bait and all.”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck sneered, mo better than a five year old, “let me have thi- wait,” he blinked, frowned, turned to Renjun, “I’m the what now?”

Renjun looked up at him, smiling sweetly. “The bait.”

Donghyuck pointed a finger at Hendery, still staring at Renjun with a little confused frown. “I thought  _ he _ was the bait.”

“I thought we’d switch things up a little.”

Hendery perked up at that. This was the first time he was hearing this but he wasn’t about to complain. Under the table, Renjun slid a hand onto his thigh, giving it a comforting pat before retreating. 

“Oh no,” Donghyuck shook his head, laughing. “No no, I’m too pretty to be bait for something that doesn’t exist.”

“If it doesn’t exist,” Dejun started, smelling weakness and pouncing, “then there’s nothing to be scared of.”

Hendery watched Donghyuck shift from flight to fight, his knee jerk reaction faster and more all-consuming than his reasoning or self-preservation skills (unfortunately for him). Donghyuck was smart and fearless, but so were most of the group they ran with. It’s what made them all such a headache for the older witches who’d been left in charge of them. It wasn’t hard for them to lure each other into traps. Something Donghyuck tended to forget. At least, until  _ he _ was the prey. 

“I’m not scared,” he snapped, before he could think better of it.

“Oh, my bad, no reason to be  _ worried _ then.”

“Fuck you, I’m not worried either.”

“Great!” Renjun clapped his hands together, smile bright and dangerous where Dejun’s was smug. “Glad to have your cooperation then!”

Donghyuck paled, realization that he’d been tricked finally dawning on him. “Wait-“

“I have a helmet-cam and everything for you,” Renjun continued. “You’ll look ridiculous but if Mothman comes for you we’ll get it close up and personal!”

Donghyuck let out a weak, defeated whimper, dropping his forehead onto the table with a dish rattling  _ thump! _

Hendery grinned wide and happy, belatedly trying to cover it behind a hand when Donghyuck looked up to give him a pouty glare. For once, he was actually kind of looking forward to Renjun’s plans.

  
  
  
  
  


“So, here we are, in an area of woods by Point Pleasant, West Virginia, at,” Mark checked his phone before continuing, pointing the camera at their little crew, “11:45 pm, dressed like giant hazard signs, looking for Mothman.” Taking advantage of the fact that he was the tallest of them (an undeniable truth that Hendery knew for a fact everyone hated and guiltily appreciated in equal parts), he caught up to where Hendery was trailing behind Renjun with three easy strides. “Hendery, how’re we feeling?”

“Terrified,” Hendery said cheerily, flashing a smile at the camera, “but, like, normal levels of terrified. The we’re-walking-around-like-bear-bait variety. Not the I’m-gonna-be-abducted-by-a-horrible-creature type. So all in all I’m feeling good.” Hendery smirked then, turning around to walk backwards, snorting at the beautiful sight he saw. “How about you, Donghyuck? You good?”

“Bite me,” Donghyuck snapped. “I hope you trip and fall.”

Dejun cackled, fingers absentmindedly weaving sigils into the air, small protections against poor weather conditions and bursts of cold. Hendery stuck his tongue out playfully, relishing in the reversal of roles for the night. Renjun slowed his steps just enough to match with Hendery’s, looping an arm through his, guiding him around a patch of gnarled roots.

“Careful,” Renjun warned, to him or Donghyuck Hendery wasn’t sure, then, “And don’t be so loud, Hyuck. You’ll scare Mothman away.”

“Good,” Donghyuck grumbled under his breath, sulking into the neck of his hoodie, face glowing faintly from the bright hazard vest he’d been shoved into.

Hendery felt his grin widen, unable to help himself. “Aw, but then you would’ve gotten all dressed up for nothing.”

“And you look so handsome too,” Mark cooed, chiming in with a delighted smile, camera trained firmly on his cousin. “With your helmet and knee pads and gloves, a cute little camera stuck to your head.”

“Fuck off,” Donghyuck snapped. “I’ll hex you.”

“No you won’t,” Mark sing-songed as a flash went off. 

Donghyuck sounds around, glare in place, looking for all the world like an offended cat. Dejun blinked at him, unfazed, and snapped another picture. 

“Jaemin and Lucas will  _ love  _ these.”

Donghyuck made a strangled sound of anger and distress. Hendery, who’d gotten used to looking like a fool in front of his own crush, dressed by Renjun on these little excursions more often than not, couldn’t find it in himself to feel any sympathy. 

He still remembered the chupacabra incident. He’d never forget that. There were pictures  _ and  _ videos. This was mild in comparison. 

“Accept your fate, Hyuck,” Hendery cackled. Gods he was enjoying himself. “Accept it, and embrace it.”

“I hate you all.”

Next to Hendery, Renjun smiled. “Love you too, Hyuckie. Now, look alive, this is where we’ll stop.”

  
  
  


Two hours later and Donghyuck was crooning off-tune pop songs at the top of his lungs, boredom eating away at him. 

“He never could stand fucking still,” Renjun muttered darkly. 

_ No, _ Hendery thought cheerily patting Renjun’s back,  _ he really couldn’t _ .

“At this rate the next episode’ll just be this,” Mark said, amused. “Donghyuck serenading Mothman.”

Hendery ducked his head trying to cover up his body hacking snort of laughter. Pressed against his shoulder, Dejun was trying to do the same. 

“I’m going to kill him.”

Hendery bit his lip, grinning wide. He leaned his entire weight against Renjun, keeping balance with a hand on the fallen tree they were gathered behind. 

“You knew this would happen,” he pointed out, internally relishing the fact that Renjun didn’t make any move to push him away, “and you still put him in reflective gear with a GoPro.”

Renjun used his own shoulder to shove lightly at Hendery, pretty pink lips pushed out into a pout that Hendery knew to be a hundred percent unconscious.  _ So unfair. _

“First reports of Mothman were from a bunch of teenagers cruising through the area,” Dejun pointed out, using his phone to film them and then the chaotic picture Donghyuck painted. “Who knows, maybe this  _ will  _ lure it out.”

Donghyuck, Hendery thought with a held back snort, would never let  _ anyone _ live that down. 

“Think it’ll lure him out within the next thirty minutes?” Mark asked. “Because the camera is gonna need a charge soon and I’m getting hungry again.”

“We charged it before we left,” Renjun said, turning to him with a frown, ignoring what, in Hendery’s humble opinion, was the more impressive part of what Mark had said (considering the amount they’d eaten before driving out here). 

“It’s cold,” Mark explained with a shrug. “Batteries don’t like the cold.”

Renjun sighed. “Damn it.”

Hendery knew the only reason Renjun didn’t want to break to get more gear was because of the possibility of Mothman miraculously appearing while the camera wasn’t rolling. Mulling it over, and going against his better judgement, Hendery bumped Renjun’s shoulder again. 

“Hey. I can go get the extra battery pack from the car.”

Renjun turned to him with bright, hopeful eyes, and the little voice in Hendery’s head saying this was a bad idea got promptly squashed. This was a  _ great _ idea if Renjun was going to smile at him like  _ that _ . 

“You don’t mind?” he asked. 

Hendery was a moment away from making a truly embarrassing sound. As it was, all he could manage was a passable, “Mhm.”

Renjun lunged, smacking a wet, over the top kiss against Hendery’s cheek. “You’re the best, you know that?”

Hendery, stunned, felt his whole face catch fire, where Renjun’s lips had been burning especially hot.  _ Is this how I die? _

“You broke him,” Mark snickered, giant ass camera pointed right at whatever dumb expression Hendery was making right now. “Your fans are gonna love this.”

Hendery made a noise, scrambling to his feet, pointing vaguely in the direction of their car. A solid ten minute walk through surprisingly dense trees, give or take. 

“I’m just gonna…” he floundered a bit, almost tripped over a branch, “Yeah.”

Renjun was still smiling at him, eyes glittering with mirth and...affection. Hendery shook his head, forced himself to turn and just start walking. 

“Bring the bag of plantain chips when you come back!” Mark called. 

“And the Tostitos!” Donghyuck added, pausing his singing. 

Hendery made a face at him — just him, not Mark, because Mark was  _ nice _ — but waved in acknowledgement. He’d just eat some of the chips on his way back. A retriever’s fee, if you will. 

Hendery made it all the way to the car without incident and on the high of Renjun’s appreciation before the universe decided to step in and humble him. 

“Hi there.”

Hendery would like to say he didn’t scream. But he did. He’d also like to say that he didn’t panic and send everything he’d meticulously piled into his arms flying with his fear. But he did that too.

“Holy  _ fuck _ ,” Hendery breathed heavily, a hand over his racing heart. He stared at the man in front of him who’d nearly given him a heart attack. “What the  _ fuck _ ?”

The man’s eyes widened and his mouth formed a startled little ‘o’, looking from Hendery, to the scattered bags of chips and freshly charged battery on the floor. 

“My bad,” he said, voice quieter, as if talking down a frightened animal which...wasn’t wrong per se but not exactly flattering. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I- it’s- I’m good,” Hendery floundered, heart still beating too fast, eyes quickly scanning over the man in front of him, discerning in the way Renjun had taught him to be and Kun had always reinforced. “ _ You have to know who’s a threat and who isn’t, Hendery, regardless of whether you’re human or not. It’s key to survival.” _ “You just startled me is all.”

The man rubbed the back of his neck with a small sheepish grin. “Sorry about that.”

Hendery waved him off, piling the things he’d dropped back into his arms. “Where’d you even come from?” He asked, glancing over at the man, conscious of how far he was from the others and the protection circle drawn in elegant lines on the inside of their little rental car door (in washable marker, of course). “I didn’t hear you come up.”

“Oh,” the man blinked, seemed to think a bit. “I was just taking a walk.”

Hendery’s eyes narrowed a fraction. The guy was dressed in jeans, converse sneakers, and a pullover hoodie that looked to thin and dark for wandering around the woods at night. Hendery didn’t like to judged — he lived a weird life with weird people and made a whole plethora of weird, arguably bad, decisions — but this just didn’t seem quite right.

“Oh, cool, cool,” Hendery nodded. Maybe if he screamed really loud and made a break for it, one of the others would reach him before he was murdered for his liver or something. “Not a bad night for a little exercise.”

“Yup,” the man said, “Just passing by when I noticed a bear coming up on your car, here.”

Hendery made a strangled little yelp and spun around. “ _ What? _ ”

“Oh! But it’s gone now!” the man said in reassurance, waving his hands at Hendery. “Bears aren’t all that aggressive unless you wander into their territory when they’re with their cubs. It was just curious about the car and the food you had inside. It left when it heard you scream.”

“Great,” Hendery said, lips twitching in an attempt at a smile, voice an octave too high. “Just great.”

The man gave him a proper smile in return, eyes curved up in a way that made his expression look vaguely sleepy and very chill. “Isn’t it? Well, now that disaster’s been averted I’ll just,” he jabbed a thumb in a vague direction over his shoulder, “be going then.”

He turned to leave, his sudden appearance and just as quick exit leaving Hendery with the most confusing whiplash.  _ What the fuck. _

The man hadn’t gotten far though before he paused and turned back to face Hendery again. “Ah, before I forget,” he tilted his face up to the sky, eyes taking on an almost wistful quality as he smiled softly, “Tell your friend that his singing is lovely.” The moonlight caught in his eyes and, for a second there, Hendery could’ve sworn they flashed a reflective red. “It’s honestly what lured me this way in the first place.”

Hendery bit back a snort.  _ Donghyuck’s singing drew a weirdo over, go figure. _ Despite his amusement, and lingering apprehension, though, he gave the man a solemn nod. “Will do.”

The man smiled. “Have a good night then.”

Hendery watched him go until he’d fully disappeared back into the dark of the forest, and then waited, just a little more, until he was sure there was no one else around but him. Well, as sure as he could be with his “meager human senses”. Lucas’ words, not his. Then, he hightailed it back to Renjun and the others.

“Dude, what took you so lon- woah, you good?”

Hendery, out of breath, collapsed between Renjun and Mark, leaning heavily against the older of the two. He nodded, swallowing around a dry throat, holding up the bags of chips and the battery pack.

“G-Got every-” he coughed, swallowed, took another breath, “everything.”

“Why do you look like you’re dying?” Donghyuck called, wiggling his feet back and forth, previously bored expression now bright with curiosity of the worst kind.

Renjun’s brows pulled into a concerned frown. Hendery almost cooed at it, a dangerous thing indeed. As it was, he let out a faint whimper that, thankfully, could be passed off as a result of exhaustion.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Ran into some weirdo by the car. Said he was just going for a run and saw a bear creeping up on our car. Scared the shit out of me.”

“Ohh, so that  _ was _ you that screamed,” Dejun said, pointing at Hendery.

Hendery glared. “You heard that and not one of you bothered to check on me?”

“Renjun said you were okay,” Mark explained, tone gentling.

“And how would he know that?” Hendery demanded, adrenaline still pumping through his veins.  _ Not even the bait and this shit still happens to me. _ “I was alone. Vulnerable. I could’ve been eaten by something!” He paused, thought of the strange man and the red sheen his eyes took on when moonlight had glanced off them. An awful lot like an animal’s. “Or someone.”

“He’s got a bonding tracker cast on you,” Donghyuck said, rolling his eyes awful hard for someone who’s clothing honestly hurt a little to look at. “He’d know if you got so much as a paper cut.”

Hendery opened his mouth to retort when what Donghyuck said fully registered. He shut it with a click, blinking, processing. Next to him, Renjun had gone tense, whipping his head to glare at Donghyuck with enough force to be a genuine threat. Witches  _ could _ kill with a look. Hendery, unfortunately, had seen it happen.

“Donghyuck, you tool, I fucking swear I’m gonna-”

“What’s a bonding tracker?” Hendery asked, curious at the foreign term  _ and _ the way Renjun went still, giving Hendery a sugary sweet smile that didn’t fool anyone when he turned to face him.

“Nothing. Donghyuck’s stupid. Don’t listen to him.”

“Hey!” Donghyuck squawked.

It was such an obvious lie, but if Renjun didn’t want to explain right now, Hendery wasn’t going to push. Renjun would share when he was ready. He always did.

Hendery offered him a smile. “Okay. And it’s a given about Donghyuck.”

Dejun and Mark snorted. Donghyuck shouted. “Motherfu- just you wait until we get back to the motel.”

“Sure, sure,” Hendery said, waving him off in a way that he knew would piss Donghyuck off the most. “Anywho, here’s your food,” he chucked the bag of Tostitos at Donghyuck who snatched it out of the air with deft hands, “and the fresh battery. I’ve done my duty so now I’m just going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the safety of having witches for friends.”

Mark and Donghyuck (despite his earlier threats) both whooped in excitement at the snacks, settling in to munch away while they waited for their planned three hours to be up. Dejun helped Mark switch out the battery, keeping up a running commentary into their back-up camera, zooming in whenever Mark fumbled something accidentally to catch the moment in HD. And Renjun...Renjun curled a hand around Hendery’s wrist and tugged him close, looking him over for any scrapes and bruises like his mom always used to do.

“You sure you’re okay?”

Hendery’s heart was beating a mile a minute, eyes focused on the gentle slope of Renjun’s nose, the soft curve of his lips. “Yeah. I’m fine. Now that I’m back. All good.”

Renjun was still flitting concerned touches all over, setting butterflies flying loose in Hendery’s stomach. “You’d tell me if you weren’t?”

Hendery nodded. “Mhm,” he managed, “Scout’s honor.”

Renjun smiled at that, tugging playfully at a lock of Hendery’s hair. “You were never a scout. It involved to much outdoorsing. You were too scared of bugs, the dark, and strange plants to even try.”

Oh, Hendery loved that Renjun knew about that and didn’t ever tease him for it.

“And who’s fault do you think that was?”

“Hm,” Renjun’s smile turned into a mischievous grin. “I’m sure I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

  
  
  


“You know,” Dejun started, “When you said the car was almost ransacked by a bear, I didn’t really believe you. But now…”

“My Funions!” Donghyuck cried, entire upper body disappearing into the trunk. “ _ And _ my bag of Rolos? Noooo!”

“How are we gonna explain this to the rental place?” Mark asked, worried — in Hendery’s opinion — about the important things, here. Like the smashed in windows and claw marks. Mark frowned. “Johnny helped us get this rental for a discount. They’re gonna charge him an arm and a leg for repairs.”

“There’s a spell for,” Dejun gestured at the destroyed front door windows, “this. I’m honestly more curious about the fact that it figured out how to get the trunk open. Don’t you need thumbs...and fingers? You know, to work the switch.”

“The claw marks are pretty concentrated too,” Renjun hummed. “Not very deep either. Mark, can you film this?”

Mark sighed, but did it, grumbling under his breath.

Renjun pressed his lips into a line. “So weird.”

“Oh shit.” They all looked over at Dejun, who was plucking something off the ground. “You didn’t mention you met Mothman on your snack run, Hendery.”

Hendery blinked. “I did what now?”

Dejun turned what he’d picked up — a piece of paper that looked like it’d come from one of Mark’s notebooks — so that everyone else could see.

_ Dear Hendery,  _

_ So...I lied. There was no bear. I could smell the left over McDonalds in your car and came looking for it. Sorry about that. Also sorry about the car. Couldn’t figure out a less destructive way to get into the trunk. Hope there aren’t any hard feelings, you seem like a nice kid. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Mothman (but you can call me Taeil) _

There was a moment of pure silence while everyone read — and re-read — the note, only the soft clicks of nocturnal creatures offering ambient noise. At some point, Renjun stomped over to yank the note away from Dejun, staring down at it so intensely Hendery wouldn’t have been particularly surprised if it’d caught fire.

“Literally what the fuck,” Donghyuck said, joining Renjun, staring in disbelief down at the note. “You mean to tell me, I sat in this ridiculous get-up for three hours, when all we needed to lure Mothman out was McDonalds and some assorted snacks? What is he? A fucking house cat?”

“I think it’s honestly just Hendery,” Mark said, coming closer with the camera, making sure to film the frustrated set to Renjun’s mouth and the utter look of ‘what-the-fuck’ painted on Donghyuck’s face before swiveling back to Hendery, who hadn’t moved, mouth still open in shock. “The universe’s decided he’s the ultimate cryptid bait.”

Hendery made a sound high in his throat somewhere between a laugh and a whine. Somewhere, a higher power was laughing at him. That had to be it. It was the only reason Hendery could think of for why things always turned out like this.

_ At least it makes me interesting _ , Hendery thought bitterly, watching Renjun proceed to tussle with Donghyuck over the note like a couple of five year olds.  _ At least there’s that. _

  
  


— 

  
  


Hendery was a very self-aware twelve year old. It’s because of this that he knew they were going to be in such deep shit when their parents found out about the mess they’d involved themselves in.

That being said, Hendery regretted nothing.

He held on tight to Lucas Wong’s hand, a fierce fire of protective instinct burning in his chest as the other boy shook, eyes wide and flashing. Dark brown one second, wolf yellow the next.

“You’re going to be okay,” Hendery told him, confident in his conviction. “We’ll protect you. I promise.”

Lucas shook his head, a panicked jerky movement. “They’ll find me, they’ll kill me. My family- I need to-”

“No,” Hendery told him, voice firm. Next to them, Dejun and Yangyang put up another barrier between them and the outside world, Jaemin and Jeno their only connections to what was going on outside Hendery’s house, cellphones in hand. “Those hunters aren’t going to find you. Renjun’s out there with the older witches. Those hunters don’t know what’s coming for them.” He gave Lucas’ hand a little reaffirming shake. “They’re the ones who should be afraid. Not you.”

Lucas stared at him, wide-eyed and desperate to trust. He held onto Hendery’s hand just as tight, nails lengthening into baby wolf claws unbidden, digging into Hendery’s skin. Five points of bright pain that would scar. Not the first scars to come from his involvement in the magical, and definitely not his last.

“You sure?” Lucas asked. There were tears forming in his eyes.

In the distance a wolf howled, the sound far but not far enough. Lucas flinched so violently his back hit the wall with a harsh  _ thud _ .

Hendery pulled him close, drawing him into the strongest hug his little twelve year old arms could manage. “I’m sure.”

It didn’t matter that Renjun was a year younger. A bold, fearless eleven. It didn’t matter that the “older witches” were little more than teenagers themselves. Hendery was sure they’d fight off the wolves scratching at their door. He’d never been surer of anything in his life.

  
  
  
  
  


“I can’t believe it’s been ten years since we first met,” Lucas mused, taking a monstrous bite out of a sandwich that Hendery was a hundred percent sure had been on  _ his _ plate.

“Yeah,” Hendery said, eyes narrowed at the werewolf. “Can’t believe it’s been ten years and you’re still stealing my food instead of just ordering enough in the first place.”

Lucas smiled at him. “ _ Aww, but you always order the best things, Kunhang. _ ”

Hendery just stared at him, the switch to their shared tongue doing nothing to soften him up. “ _ You know _ ,” he said, “ _ switching languages like this just means that I can curse you out and no one will understand. You’ve just given me vast power. _ ”

“ _ Hah! _ ” Lucas snorted. “ _ As if other people being able to understand what we’re saying has ever stopped us from cursing each other out in public. _ ”

That was...not untrue. Their group of friends were nothing if not public nuisances eighty percent of the time.

“We’re awful,” Hendery sighed, mentally apologizing for all the highly personal things they’d talked about at inappropriate volumes in the past.

“We’re energetic,” Lucas corrected, taking another bite of Hendery’s sandwich. He paused, chewing, the look in his eyes shifting ever so slightly, taking on a more soft, somber quality. “No one who’s genuinely awful sticks their neck out for someone else in a life-threatening situation.”

Hendery stared at him, startled at the shift in conversation, though he probably shouldn’t have been considering what day it was. The anniversary of Lucas and his family being freed from their pack. Of Renjun’s coven taking them in.

“When you’re twelve and stupidly reckless you do,” Hendery huffed.

Lucas’ smile grew as he shook his head. “Nah, you’d still do it now.”

“You’re damn right I’d do it now,” Hendery grumbled, making grabby hands for his sandwich so he could take a bite before it was all gone. “We’re family. Besides,” he took a bite, spoke around a mouthful of mostly bread and lettuce, “Renjun’s ten times stronger now. I’ve seen him challenge a spirit that might as well have been a god and  _ win _ . A pack of feral wolves would be a walk in the park for him, now.”

“Certainly wasn’t then,” Lucas laughed.

Hendery hummed. He thought of the way Renjun had shown up, bleeding from more places than an eleven year old should ever bleed from, eyes bright and victorious. He’d run straight for Hendery, tackling him in a bone crushing hug before shoving his hand out to Lucas, a necklace with a single old canine tooth hanging from it dangling from his little fist.

_ “You’re free.” _ A sharp, exhausted smile.  _ “You’re welcome.” _

Hendery smiled at the memory, something fond instead of heart stopping now that enough time had passed. “No, it definitely wasn’t.”

“Don’t think I ever properly thanked  _ you _ for that, by the way.”

Hendery looked up at Lucas, brows twisted into something that approximated a non-verbal question. Lucas propped his chin up on his fist, looking unfairly picturesque despite the horrible dining hall lighting and the backdrop of tired college students milling around.

Hendery shrugged. “I didn’t do much.”

“You didn’t run from me when I tried to scare you away. You listened to me, offered me a place to stay, stuck by my side when the coven elders wanted to kick me out. You’re the only reason the coven got involved in the first place.” Lucas snorted. “They couldn’t really kick my family out with Renjun vouching for us. Wouldn’t look good to question the heir apparent.”

“Still didn’t do much,” Hendery mumbled.

Lucas raised his eyebrows in mild disbelief. “If you hadn’t been so willing to throw yourself into the path of danger, Renjun would’ve never bothered to help. If he’d never helped, we wouldn’t have asylum.” He laughed, a small, amused sound. “That’s doing a lot, in my opinion.”

“Renjun would’ve helped with or without me running around, digging through the Huang gardens for wolfsbane like some sort of wild child,” Hendery snorted. “His sense of justice is plenty strong all on its own.”

“Now it is,” Lucas said like a concession, “Then? Eh, not so much.” Lucas paused to eye him. “You really don’t realize how much sway you have over him, do you? How much of an affect you’ve had on him?”

Hendery ducked his head, cheeks burning. “That’s not- I don’t-”

“Hendery! Lucas!” 

A shout cut Hendery off before he could make a fool of himself and flounder his way into admitting something disastrous, like the fact that he couldn’t possibly have as much of an affect on Renjun as Renjun did on him. Or the fact that Renjun, with all his strength and natural talent, made Hendery want to be  _ better _ . Made him want to be superhuman even if that was an impossibility. A second more, and Hendery would’ve ended up blurting out that he loved Renjun. Had loved him for a while now. 

“Sorry for making you guys wait,” Chenle panted, having run ahead of the group, Renjun, Jaemin, Donghyuck, Jeno, and Jisung trailing behind. “Jisung fell asleep in lecture hall again and got pulled aside after by Professor Mills.”

“It’s fine,” Hendery said a touch too brightly, ignoring the monumental roll of the eyes Lucas directed his way. “We grabbed some food while we waited.”

“Oh,” Chenle breathed, eyes wide, whole face animated by the excess energy he was clearly still running on. “That’s a good idea.”

Hendery and Lucas made twin noises of panic as they lunged forward to grab onto Chenle before he could scamper off to join any of the long lines for food.

“ _ After _ ,” Hendery told him, hauling him over to the chair next to him. “After our meeting, then you can run off to wherever you want.”

Chenle pouted but Hendery could see the others hurrying up in his periphery and knew he and Lucas had made the right snap judgement.

Renjun reached them first despite being the shortest of the group, taking up the remaining seat next to Hendery, bumping shoulders. He’s too close, Hendery is acutely aware of this, but Renjun made no move to shuffle away so Hendery steeled himself, willing his heart to  _ calm the fuck down _ .

“Sorry about the wait,” he huffed out, brushing against Hendery with every motion he made settling in. “Jisung got in trouble.”

Jisung whined from across the table, forehead pressed sulkily against the table top.

“On that quick note,” Jaemin said, leaning well into Lucas’ space, hand patting his boyfriend’s thigh in greeting, “Jisung isn’t allowed to come out on trips with us unless he finishes  _ all _ his assignments ahead of time, since apparently he’s decided that not sleeping is a viable solution.”

Jisung raised his head just enough to send a petulant glare Jaemin’s way. “I don’t want to hear that from you. I’ve seen how many shots you put in your coffee. That shit’s not healthy.”

“Shush child,” Jaemin said imperiously, hand held up to Jisung, “You know not of what you speak.”

“All right, Yoda,” Donghyuck snorted, lacking all his usual bite in the face of both his crushes. “Can we just get down to business? I actually have a class later today unlike you lucky bastards.”

There was absolutely zero hesitation before Hendery, Chenle, and Lucas were belting out, “Let’s get down to business~ to defeat~ the huns~”

“No, no, no,” Renjun said, slapping a quick — but gentle — hand over Hendery’s mouth. “Focus.”

Chenle snorted while Lucas looked from Renjun’s hand to Hendery’s sheepish expression with glittering eyes.

“So,” Jeno prompted, smiling sweetly with his eyes even as his lips twitched with carefully held back laughter, “What’s the plan? Are we looking for lizard men? The abominable snowman? Busting down the door of Area 51?”

“No, no, and no,” Renjun said, shuffling around a little to haul out his overstuffed binder. “Though, I’ll admit, the last one is very tempting.”

Hendery ducked his head snickering Jaemin outwardly laughed, saying, “Not surprised.”

Renjun tilted his chin up with an imperious little sniff as if he was above the light teasing and not equally prone to it when someone else was the target.

“Our next trip is gonna be for the Jersey Devil.”

“Ew.” Chenle scrunched his nose. “Does that mean we have to go to New Jersey?”

“That  _ is _ where the Jersey Devil legends come from, so, yeah. We’re going to Jersey.”

“Why?” Jaemin asked, also pouting in mild displeasure. “And why us?”

“To mix things up a little,” Renjun shrugged. “And as for why the Jersey Devil, it’s the anniversary of Lucas joining our little family. Thought it’d be fun.”

“Aww,” Lucas cooed aggressively. “You  _ do _ care!”

“Wait?” Jaemin’s nose scrunched in confusion and Lucas immediately pecked him on the cheek. “Why the Jersey Devil though? It’s neither a were  _ nor _ a wolf.”

“Hush,” Renjun said, waving him off as he twisted in his seat to pull out an overstuffed folder from his bag. “It’s the closest thing I could find.”

Lucas smiled, sweet and wide, points of his canines flashing like they only did when he was particularly happy. “Still very nice. Thank you.”

Renjun cleared his throat, ears pinking because he was notoriously bad at accepting genuine compliments unless the mood was already set for it. (He’d been fine being thanked after saving their lives — multiple times — for example.)

“No biggie.” Hendery snorted lightly, ducking his head so Renjun wouldn’t see his amused smile. Didn’t matter much since Renjun recognized his reactions, even hidden, from a mile away at this point, a sharp short slap coming down on Hendery’s thigh. Not as much of a deterrent as it was intended to be, unfortunately. “Anyway, these are the general plans and the tentative travel itinerary. Look over it, tell me if you’ll be good for it, otherwise I’ll ask one of the others.” He handed out sheets of paper, then sat back, waiting for everyone to start reading them. “Any questions?”

“Oh, me,” Chenle said, raising his hand.

Hendery bit down on a smile as Renjun raised one slow, suspicious eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Are you going to feed us this time or is it a ‘no wallet, no eat’ situation?”

Renjun rolled his eyes, a long suffering sigh slipping past his lips. “Kun and Doyoung have given me a budget after that...incident.” Chenle visibly perked up, even Jisung raising his head from where it’d been pressed despondently to the table still, a bright gummy smile stretching his mouth. “But,” Renjun continued, raising a finger in warning, “if you eat through that you’re on your own, because I am  _ not _ paying for your bottomless stomaches. Understand?”

In perfect sync, the two youngest gave Renjun matching salutes, expressions serious. “Aye, aye, captain!”

Smothered giggles spread across the table as Chenle and Jisung kept up the act, Renjun shaking his head slowly, lips pressed into a line. When everyone settled back down and dispersed to find food — Renjun waving them off saying that he’d said what he’d wanted to say — Renjun practically deflated with a sigh, collapsing against Hendery’s side, turning his face to bury it in Hendery’s shoulder.

Hendery, heart galloping and cheeks rapidly heating up, placed a hand on Renjun’s knee, not quite as out-of-sight as he’d like it to be from Lucas’ interested eyes. “You okay?”

“Mm,” Renjun hummed, curling a hand around Hendery’s bicep, a casually intimate touch. The type of which had become more and more normal as of late. “Just tired. It’s been...a week. A very long week.”

Hendery’s breath stuttered in his chest as he slowly started to rub his hand in soothing back and forth motions just above Renjun’s knee, thumb occasionally digging into the muscle it found there. “Wanna talk about it?”

Renjun shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine.” He tilted his head back a little to blink up at Hendery with big puppy eyes. “You know what would help, though?” Hendery raised an eyebrow, already knowing where this was going. “Food. Food would be absolutely fantastic right now.”

“Of course,” Hendery snorted, unable to keep the blind fondness from his voice. He pulled the to-go container he’d gotten earlier along with his own lunch closer, sliding it over to the grabby hands Renjun was making, his eyes positively  _ glittering _ . “They didn’t have the good fries so I got some onion rings instead.”

“Oh gods,” Renjun practically moaned. “Have I told you I love you?”

Hendery ducked his head, the heat in his cheeks licking a line of fire down his neck. He smiled. “Mm, not today.”

From his periphery, Hendery saw Renjun considering him, eyes searching. Across from him, Lucas was staring, glee radiating from every pore, practically vibrating in his seat.

Hendery prayed to whatever deity he thought might listen for Lucas to just...hold it in.  _ Please, please don’t let him laugh. If he laughs, I’ll just die. And then I’ll have to come back and haunt him. It’ll be the fucking worse. _

“Well,” Renjun started, slowly. Carefully. Before Hendery knew what was happening, Renjun was leaning close, pressing his lips to his cheek in a smacking kiss. “I love you.”

_ Fuck _ , Hendery thought weakly. Renjun Huang would be the death of him.

  
  


— 

  
  


Renjun liked to...touch. Or, maybe it was better to say he was tactile. Very tactile.

Hendery didn’t mind. The opposite, really. He probably enjoyed it too much. Especially considering that Renjun’s touch always leaned towards possessive.

Like now, for example, with Renjun’s hand settled warm and heavy on the nape of Hendery’s neck while Hendery reclined back in the space between Renjun’s legs.

_ He’s such a horrible manspreader _ , Hendery thought mildly, taking care to breathe deeply, steadying his pulse, hoping desperately that it wouldn’t give away how his  _ entire body _ was one single livewire at the moment.  _ A horrible, horrible manspreader. _

“Why’re these trips just us sitting around and waiting nine times out of ten?” Jaemin complained, reclined back across a very red-faced Donghyuck’s lap. “How is that exciting for your viewers?”

Hendery jumped, startled out of the meditative state he’d sunken into by Jaemin’s voice, loud in the otherwise quiet area they’d taken up in overlooking Lake Michigan. Renjun’s hand stroked gently over his skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. His thighs, spread stupid wide, squeezed briefly against Hendery’s shoulders, Renjun’s dumb, terribly distracting way of checking if Hendery was okay.

Hendery, swallowing down the flush creeping over his ears, patted Renjun’s ankle to let him know it was nothing.

“Have you never actually watched one of my episodes before?” Renjun asked, settling back again now that he was sure Hendery was fine, going back to flipping through an old magi-zoology book Taeyong had lent them. 

( _ “Hunting cryptids is fine and all, so long as you keep in mind there are  _ actual _ monsters out there.” _ ) 

“Of course I have,” Jaemin said, tilting his head back, digging it into the meat of Donghyuck’s thigh in the process, much to Donghyuck’s obvious distress and everyone else’s amusement.

Renjun raised an eyebrow. “And? Have you ever seen one that’s just us sitting around and waiting for hours?”

Jaemin pursed his lips, eyes narrowing. “Point taken.”

Renjun smiled, all smug, small, satisfied cat. Hendery, unconsciously watching Renjun’s face, felt his heart skip in his chest.  _ Precious _ .

“Jaemin’s just bored because Jaemin didn’t read up on what we’re looking for,” Yangyang teased. “I, for one, did, so I’m hella hyped.”

“Yeah,” Dejun agreed, looking up to the overcast sky, smiling into the cool breeze that blew threw. “A thunderbird. Imagine.” His smile broadened into a wide grin, the air around him shimmering with raw energy drawn up by his excitement. “For once, I’m really,  _ really _ hoping it’s real.”

“I’m not gonna get offended by that only because it’s such a nice day,” Renjun sniffed. “That, and you thought ahead to bring some of Kun’s cooking along.”

There were nods and small sounds of agreement all around. It would’ve been three days of take-out and dodgy attempts at cooking without Mama Kun fixing up a bunch of to-go containers for them.

“Think it’s gonna look like it did in Fantastic Beasts?” Jisung asked, bundled in a blanket like a baby, radiating excited energy. He’d been grounded from the last trip because of another failed test, but had been granted a reprieve by the powers that be after a lot of coercive begging. “Think it’s gonna be scary?”

“Nah,” Donghyuck drawled, “They’re not.”

“Oh,” Jaemin smiled up at him, looking for the world like a pampered lap cat with the way his lips curled up lazily, tips of his teeth flashing. “And how would you know?”

Donghyuck shrugged, small smile tugging at his own lips. He was staring off in the general direction of the lake, eyes somehow clear and unfocused at the same time. “Because I’ve seen one before.”

“Ah,” Jaemin intoned, nodding. A pause, then, “Wait... _ what? _ ”

Everyone was looking at Donghyuck now, expressions twisted into a range of disbelief and shock.

“Hmm?” Donghyuck blinked at Jaemin’s wide-eyed stare, registering their proximity before the exclamation if the way his cheeks pinked was anything to go by. “Oh, yeah. I’ve seen one before. A long time ago when I was really little.”

“How?” Renjun asked, brows furrowed, lurching forward in an aborted movement to shuffling closer, patting Hendery’s hair in apology for jostling him.

Donghyuck shrugged. “My parents took me along to one of those witch’s conferences when I was like, four? Five? And I got lost. A thunderbird found me.”

“Found you,” Dejun repeated dumbly.

“Saved me, I guess.” Donghyuck scrunched up his nose, roughly ruffling his hair. “I’d ended up in the surrounding woods. It’d been dark, and raining, and something else had been out there. Something even I could tell was bad. And then all of a sudden there was a massive bird screeching at whatever was prowling around in the shadows.” Donghyuck reached around Jaemin for the bag of pita chips they’d popped open, shoving a few in his mouth, avoiding the raised eyebrow and faint smile he received from Jaemin when he accidentally brushed against him. “Then it plucked me up in these massive ass claws and carried me back to the lodge where the conference was taking place. My parents found me, like, ten minutes later, crying, soaked through, sitting on the porch like a baby brought by a fucking stork.” A thumbs up, then. “All-in-all a great encounter. Ten out of ten would recommend.”

After he was done there was silence. Just the soft sounds of trees rustling and water lapping at a distant shore.

Hendery, snorting hard, broke through the quiet. “And you call  _ me _ monster bait?”

“Excuse you,” Donghyuck snarked, rebuttal at the ready — as was to be expected. “I’m not the one who almost got eaten by a pack of ghouls, stumbled across a wendigo’s den, or accidentally pissed off a kappa while helping small-and-scary here look for Lizard Man.”

“Small and scary?” Renjun asked, something dangerous and annoyed underling his tone, at the same time that Hendery laughed, loud and sharp, “Says the person that brought an entire swarm of angry naiads down on us because you pissed in their river!”

Donghyuck sputtered, turning a brilliantly vibrant shade of red. “That was on time!”

“One time too many, if you ask me,” Dejun shuddered, standing with a groan to head back into the cabin they’d rented (courtesy of Renjun’s doting parents).

Donghyuck let out an indignant squawk, mollified only by Jaemin boldly carding his fingers through his hair. Hendery thought Jaemin looked far too pleased with himself, eyes sparkling and smile pushing his cheeks up as Donghyuck gave himself over to being petted.

_ Hypocrites _ , Hendery thought with a small huff,  _ The lot of them. _

“What’re you thinking about?” Renjun asked quietly, leaning close to whisper.

Hendery shivered lightly at the puffs of breath brushing past his ear, at the warmth seeping through their clothes with every point of contact. “Nothing.”

“Lies,” Renjun laughed lightly. He curled closer with a sigh, wrapping his legs around Hendery’s middle and his arms around Hendery’s neck, tucking his cold nose into Hendery’s neck, ignoring the yelp that earned him. “Is it about dumb and dumber over there?”

Hendery accepted the new arrangement of limbs with the grace of someone who’d been waiting for this moment the entire day. In other words, he sunk back against Renjun’s chest and placed his arms over Renjun’s legs, effectively locking him in place. Renjun, tightening his hold and clinging much like a koala, didn’t seem to mind.

“I mean, it’s really nothing, but, yeah. It’s them.” Hendery tilted his head to the side, allowing Renjun to rest his chin properly in the crook of his neck. If he thought too hard about their position and the picture they painted, he’d probably combust, so he didn’t. He focused on Donghyuck and Jaemin, now chatting together in low tones while Yangyang and Jisung ran around in the background, enjoying the cool weather like two puppies let off their leash. “I was just thinking how they like to heckle the rest of us about  _ our _ love lives but can’t even figure out their own.”

“Ah.” Renjun nodded, making Hendery squirm when his chin dug into the very ticklish crook of his neck. “Too true, too true. Bar trapping them in a room together until they work things out, though, we can’t really do much.”

“Now there’s a thought,” Hendery said, perking up.

Renjun snorted. “Leave them be, Hendery. Let them figure shit out like everyone else.”

“Boring,” Hendery sighed, going boneless in Renjun’s hold for dramatic effect and to be snuggled close. “But fine. I’ll play nice. Take the high road. Be the bigger man.”

Renjun snickered, absentmindedly running a hand up and down Hendery’s chest. It had Hendery’s blood boiling. “Good. I’d hate to have to kill Donghyuck for turning you into a potted plant with no way to turn you back.”

“Mm,” Hendery pressed his lips into a line. “He  _ is _ bad at undoing transfigurations.”

“Very,” Renjun agreed.

They sat like that for a while, comfortable in each other’s presence without needing to talk. They’d been having more of these moments lately. Bubbles of warm, gentle, casual intimacy interspersed between the hectic schedules of their lives. Casual kisses on the cheek that sometimes lingered, leaving heat behind in their wake. Those moments fostered a fierce sort of hope in Hendery’s chest. One that had taken root and refused to fade. Times like this, Hendery thought it might not be so bad to let those roots spread and grow. To let them take hold as they pleased.

Times like this, Hendery thought that loving Renjun, and letting it show, might not come back to hurt him.

“Think we’ll see a thunderbird tonight?”

Renjun hummed, the vibrations traveling through his chest into Hendery’s back. A comforting purr. “Hopefully. Mark traced legends and weather patterns to figure out where and when we should set up. He’s usually good with actual monster hunts, so I don’t see why this should be any different.”

Hendery nodded. “If anything, at least we got a nice little break.”

“If anything.”

Hendery patted Renjun’s hand. “Don’t worry, Renjun. We’ll see your bird. If Donghyuck was able to see one, you definitely will.”

  
  
  
  
  


Hendery loved being right. He really did. But sometimes — only sometimes, because he  _ loved _ lording shit over Dejun and Lucas — he could do with being wrong.

“ _ The fuck is that? _ ” Jaemin shouted, dragging a wide-eyed Donghyuck behind him with a firm grip on his wrist as they ran.

Hendery vaulted over a patch of exposed roots, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally land on worse footing and break an ankle. Renjun followed, breaths loud even in the torrential downpour of the sudden storm.

“ _ Renjun! _ ”

“ _ What? _ ” Renjun snapped, panting, nearly stumbling, only staying on his feet thanks to quick reflexes and a bright, burning burst of magic.

“What,” Jaemin started, yelping at a flash of lightning and ground shaking bout of thunder, “The fuck.  _ Is that? _ ”

Behind them a giant shadow loomed, two narrow slits of light the only indicator of where its head was. It advanced with slow sways, the rough constant crunch of a hard, unyielding surface pulverizing the forest floor echoing all around them.

“Does that really matter right now?” Dejun yelled, further ahead with Yangyang, the small barrier runes he’d gotten tattoed on his wrists for his nineteenth birthday glowing bright white.

“Yeah!” Jaemin shouted right back, not nearly as winded but significantly more terrified. “I’d like to know what’s about to fucking eat us!”

That seemed to manage to snap Donghyuck out of whatever funk he’d fallen into when the giant creature had first appeared, snarling and hissing at them. “It won’t eat us!”

“It’s definitely trying too!” Jisung whimpered, his long legs thankfully carrying him the farthest ahead. 

“It’s a great horned serpent!” Renjun shouted, magic sparking in his veins, making them glow white like Dejun’s tattoos. He reached out a hand to briefly clasp around Hendery’s, sending a wave of energy flooding through his system.

“Whoa,” Hendery breathed. It was easier. Running was easier, now.

“ _ A _ great horned serpent, or  _ The _ Great Horned Serpent?” Dejun asked, casting a veil-like shield behind them, locking it into place with a snap of his fingers.

“Debatable?”

The serpent slammed into it with a harsh, grating bang. It reared back and tried to break through, once, twice, before opening its mouth —  _ wow those’re teeth, lots of them _ — to let out a horrifying roar.

“Oh man,” Yangyang said, glancing over his shoulder. “No snake should ever make that type of noise.”

_ Fucking agreed. _

They broke through the tree line, back within the wards they’d placed around their cabin. Only once they were all through and back within the range of protection did their little group take a moment to catch their breath.

“Dejun,” Renjun asked, not panting as hard now that he was supplementing himself with magic, “That shield you set, is it…”

A crisp, clear crack rung out through the air, a faint dusting of light scattering into the air, glittering in the still falling rain.

“Nope,” Dejun grit out, wincing at the resonating pain from the broken barrier.

“Lovely,” Donghyuck said faintly. He was still shaking, but it looked less like fear to Hendery and more like chill from being whipped by wind and soaked to the bone by rain.

Despite that, he flicked his hands, fingers flitting over imaginary strings, bringing the wards to life. They hummed and sang in response to his call, rising from the ground like spectres until they’d formed a dome over the clearing, sealing them in and ideally shutting the serpent out.

“Well,” Yangyang grumbled, “this isn’t going as planned.”

“You fucking think?” Jaemin snapped.

“What do we do now?” Jisung asked, face twisted in worry, fingers ringing the hem of his shirt. “It wants to eat us.”

“We wait,” Hendery said, looking up at Renjun for confirmation. “And we keep the camera on the sky.”

“Ah, yes,” Jaemin said, a nervous sort of venom slipping into his tone. “We wait to get eaten and then film the whole thing. That’ll make it worth it.”

“We’re  _ not _ gonna get eaten,” Renjun said, voice firm and sharp.

Dejun was frowning, rubbing a thumb over one of his wrist tattoos in his own nervous tick. “You sound sure considering one of that snake’s small teeth is the size of a tall person.”

“He’s sure because great horned serpents aren’t supposed to bring rain,” Hendery told him, blinking up through the rain at the clouds, noticing a patch that seemed to be glowing with a moving light. “The only thing that does in this neck of the woods, is the one thing that’s supposed to keep the serpent in check.”

“You read Mark’s report,” Renjun commented, following Hendery’s line of sight just as the glow started to become brighter.

Hendery shrugged. “Some of it.”

All of it. He’d read all of it.

The horned serpent slithered out of the woods at a speed too fast for its size, slamming into Donghyuck’s wards hard at the same time that the thunderbird burst out of the clouds, letting out a piercing screech, wings unfurled, entire body lit with resplendent arcs of light. Renjun snapped up three more layers for the wards just before both creatures collided, a shockwave bursting out and bending the trees all around them.

Hendery hoped, in a small part of his brain not concerned with survival, that someone who viewed these creatures as deities had gotten to see them clash at least once in their life, because it was a sight to behold. The thunderbird flew with the force and speed expected of a bird of prey, massive translucent talons carving into the serpent with each pass. 

The whole fight was over in a matter of minutes that felt like hours, each crash against their wards sending a small current of fear lancing through Hendery, worried that the two beasts would manage to get through. Renjun and Donghyuck — aided by Dejun, Yangyang, and a fledgling Jisung — held them strong, though.

It meant that, by the end of it, not only were they all still alive despite stumbling (albeit it purposely) on the serpent’s rising point, but they also had proof of the whole thing in the form of video, fallen feathers the length of Hendery’s arm, and cracked scales bigger than his head.

“Next time,” Jaemin started, splayed out face down on the cabin’s modest couch, “please tell Mark to be a little less successful with his information scouting.”

Renjun, watching over their footage with bated breath, excitedly slapping Hendery’s knee every now and then, laughed. “Not on your fucking life.”

Jaemin groaned. Hendery, tired, sore, and still hoped up on adrenaline, couldn’t agree more.

That being said, if Renjun wanted to follow Mark’s scarily accurate research to another cryptid’s location, Hendery wouldn’t be the one to tell him no. He’d go along with a smile and comfort food, demanding extra cuddles from Renjun along the way.

It would be fine, anyway. So long as their group of friends was the way they are — strong, sharp, insufferably skilled and resourceful — nothing too bad would ever happen.

“Oh! Oh! Hendery, look at this!”

Hendery looked down at the camera screen where Renjun was pointing, basking in the warmth of Renjun by his side, giddy at the fingers that had at some point laced together with his own.

He smiled.

_ When we get back _ , he decided,  _ I’ll tell him _ .

Until then, though, this was more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! If you enjoyed please comment/leave kudos/bookmark. It's the best way to let an author know you liked what they created and is always very much appreciated and welcomed! ^_^


End file.
